Quote:
Originally Posted by RyanA
I would love to hear from the women (trainers or not) about what male trainers do wrong with female clients. [...]
Most of my clients come to me to lose weight and "get in shape".
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Here's are some thoughts, speaking as someone who at one time was part of your target market: a fat woman willing to spend her disposable income on a personal trainer.
1. When a client comes to you to lose weight and "get in shape", you still don't really know what she wants. Does she want to lose twenty pounds and drop one dress size? Does she want to look like Jessica Biel circa Blade Trinity or like Jessica Alba pre-pregnancy. So, my first advice is: ASK more questions until you know what she actually wants. Also, ASK what kind of trainer she is looking for: a drill instructor, an kindler gentler encourager, et cetera. I expect a lot of things from trainers, but I don't expect them to read minds.
2. LISTEN to what I say. When I was looking for a trainer way back in the dawn of time, I had the following conversation more than once. I trust the problem is obvious:
Trainer:
"What are your goals?"
Me:
"To get stronger and lift more weight."
Trainer:
"Great. I can write a great program for you to lose some weight. I had a lady lose fifty pounds with me."
3. Don't ignore my questions. If I say that I want compound exercises, and you show up with a program that has bicep curls, you should have a very good reason as to why there are there. Think of yourself as a web designer: every element on the page should have a purpose, otherwise, you are wasting my time and my money.
4. Be considerate of my time and my requests. If I tell you that I will do my own warm up and cooldown, don't waste the first and last five minutes of my paid-for hour doing a WU/CD. If I tell you not to lecture me about nutrition, don't start the session by asking me what I had for breakfast.
5. Keep in mind that my current shape and size are not good predictors of my knowledge base (although they may be good predictors of how I apply that knowledge). Don't be condescending.
I know I've written about this subject elsewhere; I'll try and dig it up over the weekend.
HTH,
Mich